For each tool you find include a sample and a 500 word summary (that includes age appropriateness, how to use in the classroom, safety, and your opinion about the tool)
Review and Evaluate 10 Web 2.0 Tools that have not been used in class
Team Leader: Anna, Haley, Cayela, Bailey
ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a classroom tool that helps teachers improve behavior in their classrooms quickly and easily. It also captures and generates data on behavior that teachers can share with parents and administrators. Approximately 50 percent of the time in the classroom is used managing behavior rather than spent teaching, ClassDojo aims to reduce that number so teachers can do more teaching and less crowd control. With ClassDojo it is easy to engage parents in their child’s development because they have access to see the positive and negative points that child receives daily and the comments from the teacher. Teachers can make a list of actions that students will try in complete throughout the school year, such as helping others, staying in your seat, raising your hand, or staying on task. When the teacher sees that a student’s is doing one of these task he or she will give the student Dojo points. At the end of the day the students can see how many points that have received during the day. They can also see where they are improving and where they need to improve. Teachers can also leave comments for the students to view on the action of what they did well or what they need to do differently. Students can also make their own avatar once the teacher gives out the “secret code”. Students can see their classmate’s avatars as well. ClassDojo is appropriate for grades K through 6th grade. I think any grade beyond this wouldn’t respond to it very well. ClassDojo is something that I would defiantly use in my classroom. I think this tool is something that is safe because the teacher is the main person to be using the tool, unless a student is changing their avatar or seeing how many points they have then they won’t be on ClassDojo that often. When teachers first create their page they are given a “secret code”. The “secret code” is how parents or students can access the page and information. This makes me feel that ClassDojo is safe, because not just anyone can get on the page. I really like this because students can see how and where they need to improve and what they are doing right. I also like that the teacher can comment on each behavior, that way the student can know exactly what they did correctly or what they didn’t do so good on. I think this tool could really cut down on the time that the teacher is spending trying to discipline.
Cayela Miller
Edmodo
Edmodo is a social learning platform website for teachers, students, and parents. It is marketed as the Facebook for schools. Edmodo is used into classrooms through a variety of applications including Reading, Assignments, and Paper-studying. Current uses include posting assignments, creating polls for student responses, embedding video clips, create learning groups, posting quizzes, creating a calendar of events and assignments. Students can also turn in assignments or upload assignments for their teachers to view and grade on Edmodo. With Edmodo parents have the ability to view the website. They can either use their child’s username or make their own. With the parent accounts parents have the ability to see their child’s assignments and grades. Teachers can send alerts to parents about creating and maintaining parent records, send alerts about school events, their child's missing assignments and other important messages. Like other social networks, Edmodo can be used as a place to post and critique work, facilitate collaboration, and post creative writing. On Edmodo teachers can also post with attachments such as videos or pictures. It can also be used to teach children how to create podcast, posts, and basic web-site designing. Edmodo overall is safe for everyone involved. With Edmodo teachers have the ability to make sure that only the right people are in the virtual classroom, monitoring, and influence student conversations. Edmodo is as safe as the teacher makes it for the class. If teachers are not regularly present in their Edmodo virtual classroom or at least monitoring remotely through email, it’s like leaving the physical classroom unattended. To strengthen the security of the classroom it’s recommended that schools register with Edmodo to create a school subdomain and a school Edmodo administrator, so that teacher accounts can be validated and monitored. Edmodo is found most appropriate for grades 6th through 12th. You might be able to use Edmodo is younger grades, but they would defiantly have more difficulty and would probably need more assistance. I think that if I had an older grade level Edmodo is something that I could see myself using in the classroom. I really like that parents have the availability to check in on their child’s grades, progress, assignments and any announcements. I think this would be a great way to get information out to parents. There are two main concerns that I have with Edmodo, the safety and internet access. Although Edmodo claims that it’s as safe as the teacher makes it, I would still be concerned for the virtual safety of my students. The second concern that I have would be about the interent access for my students. If the children were working from Edmodo at school there would be no concerns about internet access but if the students had assignments to complete at home there is a possibility that the student may not have internet access home.
Cayela Miller
Scratch: This tool is used to create animations, music, art, games, presentations, and many other aspects that go along with technology. This application is free of charge to whoever would like to join the page. The people that the tool is aimed towards are children ranging from ages 8 to 16, but it is said that many people across all age groups use the application. Scratch can be used for personal fun, present a project, make a movie, learn a new skill, or complete a task in a new way never thought of before. There is also a site that is connect to Scratch but is for educators that is called ScratchEd. This page allows for educators to share stories, ask question to a community of educators from around the world, exchange resources, and find other educators. With the ability to share with other educators this could allow for many new ideas to be sparked within the teaching world and give a new wave of teaching styles to come about. The tool asks for a username, the country in which you live, birth month and year, gender, and a contact email address. The website never asks for your exact birth date or your true name so you wouldn’t be giving out any personal identity information. It also allows for information to be reported if anything inappropriate is reported or flagged. With the ScratchEd and the original page of Scratch, this tool could be used in the classroom for assignments, creation of presentations to help teach a topic of the curriculum, and collaboration with other teachers for ideas on teaching methods and assignments. The set-up of ScratchEd allows for teachers to share and communicate with other educators. Scratch gives children independence to create their own art, games, music, animations, and anything else they would enjoy. A teacher could give this assignment to children to create their own video about a historic event, their own game to teach a part of the curriculum, or as an assignment with a group to create their own animation of a book that is being read in the class like a movie trailer but for that certain book. The video and animation making is a new way for children to show their skills and understanding of technology and also complete tasks given to them I the classroom. I like this tool for the simple fact that is gives students the freedom to create their own animations and videos as a way of completing tasks given to them in the classroom as well as somewhere for children to display their talents and interests during their free time. I also like the feature or ScratchEd page that allows teachers to communicate, share, and find new methods of teaching that help children learn the curriculum that is set before them. The downside would be that it is hard to monitor exactly what children are doing while they are on the page, but as long as guidelines are set there shouldn’t be much of a problem. Overall it is a new and exciting tool that will help children become more engaged in the learning process.
This is a website that allows students, teachers, parents, or anyone for that matter to generate their own timeline. It can include historical dates and events, personal dates and events, a group’s events, or anything the creator would like to create a timeline for. The website allows for a sign up option so someone can create an account and create their own timelines or the website can be used to browse timelines others have made to help learn about historical events or anything of their liking. This tool could be used in the classroom as a way for students to see and understand certain historical events and dates that are a part of the curriculum being taught. It could also be used as a way to generate their own timeline. This option could be given as an assignment to students to create a timeline about themselves, a project they are working on, a vacation they went on during a break in school, a certain period in time they have been designated to research and study, or as a memoir of their year in your class and be presented at the end of the school year. This tool seems very safe to use for anyone. In the sign up feature there are three different plans that can be chosen from free, basic which cost $5.99 a month, and pro which cost $8.99 a month. The plans that cost so much a month offer more and the information that is asked before creating an account include personal information such as billing information. The free plan simply asks for an email address, username, and password to create an account. It is a simple tool to use and children of older age can create their own. Younger children will have a harder time navigating the website themselves so it would be better for a teacher to create a timeline and the children look at the print outs. I would suggest children under the 3rd grade level would need to have print outs of timelines or a good amount of assistance when using the tool and children 3rd grade and older should be able to navigate the page with little to no assistance. I like this tool and would more than likely use this tool in my classroom as a way to help children better understand aspects of the history or social studies curriculum. It could be used to generate assignments or used to generate timelines to be hand-outs in the classroom when teaching a certain historical event or time period. I believe it will help children to become more engaged in learning dates and events if they are given a way to record the dates on their own but in a fun way for them to help remember the material. It can be used in many settings and for many different purposes. I would recommend this tool and will probably use it in the near future.
Anna Wilkerson
Storybird:
Storybird is a visual storytelling community that is offered online. This website allows anyone to create a story online in just a couple of minutes. The site curates artwork and illustrations from animators and artists around the world. The artwork is then provided for the user to create their own new story, while using artwork from previous books or other mediums. Storybird offers many different graphics and illustrations to choose from when creating the book, so your options are not limited. Membership to the website is free; the students would just need to create an account. When the books are saved and posted on the website it allows other people to repost your book as well as comment on it. This allows for online interaction, which could be useful in the classroom students could give feedback on the work of their peers so that peer evaluation could occur. This website would be most appropriate for 3-6 grades within the k-6 grades. The website is easy to use, but children below the 3rd grade would probably need a large amount of assistance to complete a story. I do believe that this tool is safe because all of the images are provided by the website and most are taken from children’s books. The website also offers a teacher option that allows a teacher to create her own class, which could allow her to integrate her students together. It also allows the teacher to grade the students work online and provide them with feedback. The story can be embedded as well to another site or blog. In my opinion I think that this tool is interesting and that it could definitely be used in an educational setting, especially an English class. This website could be used as a writing tool that would engage them more than the typical pencil and paper. Instead of having a student write a paper, they could write their own book. This would not only help with their writing skills, but it could also allow them to learn more about the different genres of books since they would have to pick one themselves. Overall I think that this tool could be greatly utilized in a literature class because it would allow students to learn old information in a new and creative way. Please look below to see how to create a storybird and to see what they look like.
--Haley Powell
Zooburst:
Zooburst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone create his or her own 3D Pop up books. The books “live” online in the account that you create. Although an account has to be created, it is free to sign up. Students and teachers can become authors that use characters and props in a 3D world that can also be customized by uploading artwork or items from the built-in database of more than 10,000 pictures and materials. Zooburst books can also be shared by using a hyperlink or be embedded into a blog. Zooburst is also available in the form on an app so that it can be used on a tablet or an iPad. This tool is appropriate for all children within the k-5 grades. I also think that this tool is safe for students to use because they control the content of their book and the options that are provided by the website are appropriate. The website also offers a “classroom management” option that allows teahcers to set up a protected, safe space for their students. Zooburst can be used in the classroom as a tool to tell a story, deliver a presentation, write a report, or to encourage creativity and exploring technology. In my opinion I think that the tool could be useful in the classrrom and it could be an interesting way to get children to create their own books using a medium besides pen and paper. The book is also interactive because the students can click on the different pictures that pop up in order read or create new information. Their voice can also be added to read the information out loud while progressing through the book. I would definitely use this in my classroom as long as they were familiar with the computer. Please see the video below for instructions on how to sign up for the website and how to create a book.
--Haley Powell
Goanimate:
Goanimate is a Web 2.0 tool that is appropriate for all k-12 grades. The purpose of the website is to allow students and adults the opportunity to make videos using simplistic methods. All of the videos are made out of animations, which eliminates the issue and fear of trying to figure out how to record something and transfer it to the computer. Animation is also more kid-friendly because children can relate it to the cartoons that they see and watch on television. One of the sites statements/mottos is “point, click, drag, drop, voila!”, which is used to represent the ability that is required to use this site. This tool can be used in the classroom to exercise higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and the use of their imagination. The tool does offer a free version, but the children would have to create an account. I think that the website is safe, especially since the user is in control of the material that is placed on the video. This tool could be a creative way for students to create a presentation for an assignment in class as opposed to a PowerPoint. I also think that this tool could be utilized in a technology class to expose students to videos other than the ones that are posted on YouTube. This tool does not have to be used for something serious, it can be used for fun as well. Goanimate can be used to create something funny or simply send some sort of message. The tool also offers the opportunity to create a visual out of pieces of information. The use of animated characters offers the opportunity to discuss a touchy subject without people putting their defenses up. The website offers many different options when creating the video, such as the different characters, their movement, the background, props, music, and the ability to lip synch a character with your voice. The possibilities for this tool are great and I think that it could be a fun and useful tool for students. Below you will find a tutorial on what the tool does and how to use it.
--Haley Powell
The Answer Pad-Bailey Kanupp
The Answer Pad is an interactive tool for both students and teachers to use. The teacher signs up at answerpad.com and then adds the students. The students then download the app on their iPad or they can use a computer desktop. The teacher can see from her device whether the students are logged in and ready to answer questions. The teacher can send out a question to each device that is connected to her account. The teacher can change the layout of the screen to a graph or just plain paper depending on the question. Written responses are not the only way the students can response, they can type out the response if needed. There is also an option for selected response questions. There is an option to upgrade and pay a small fee to get upgraded features. The upgraded features include graphic organizers that the teacher can customize and much more. There is also an option if the teacher has something specific in mind that she cannot find she can upload it from her own files. I believe that this tool would be great for student’s grades 2 through 6. As long as the students would not take advantage of the technology at their finger tips the possibilities are endless. This tool could be used in a number of different ways as you can see in the video the teacher Ms. Smith used it as a math tool. But The Answer Pad is not limited to only math. You could upload a graphic organizer and have the students fill it out in partners or on their own. This could be a great tool for a spelling test. Call out the word and have them submit them one at a time. This would cut down on how much the teacher would have to take home and grade. This is a great tool to be eco friendly. This cuts down on how much the teacher has to grade and how much paper is wasted in a day’s time. I believe this is a very safe website. There are no ads for anything on the website so no way for a student to get off task. I guess it would all come down to if you trust your students. I believe this could be a great formative and summative assessment tool. The teacher could see how the students understand the material on a minute to minute basis. Then the teacher could also use this tool to make a test and have the students submit them virtually. The only down fall of this tool is the fact that every student has to be signed up to use the tool. If they are not signed up there is no way of knowing who sent in the answers. The teacher has to sign each student in. But I believe that one afternoon of signing students up for The Answer Pad verses the mounds of paper work that you would be saving is worth it. I plan to use this tool when I get my own classroom. Live Binder-Bailey Kanupp
Live Binders are just virtual 3-ring binders that student, teachers, or parents can use. You can just add the icon to your web browser and when you want to add a website you just click the icon and it is added to the binder of your chose. Live Binders can be used many different age groups including school aged students. At the school that I currently work at we use Live Binders daily. There is a live binder for students to use to play math games, reading games, and typing games. There is a live binder for parents that have safe websites, monthly and weekly news letters by grade levels. There is a live binder for teachers that have websites that are useful and documents that are important for daily use. I believe that live binders are very useful and can help out anyone find websites. The safety of the live binder depends on the maker of the binder. A school live binder should be safe for students. Students could use live binders to find websites that teachers want them to use, or can make their own for a project. I believe that K-6 students could use a live binder but making one may be a little harder. Grades 4-6 could make a live binder for a project or as a reference for a research project. Live binders have no limits you can add as many websites as you would like. Padlet-Bailey Kanupp
Padlet is a web 2.0 tool for students to build a wall of their own. This is tool kind of like glogster but easier for younger students. A wall can be like a poster board of endless topics online. There is a privacy policy on the website that the video explains. You can make your wall private or public or public to only certain people. This is an important feature for students to be able to post things on their walls and know that they will not be taken advantage of. I believe that a lot of grades could use this in many different subjects. I believe that kindergarten and first grade may not be able to use it as well as second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. I think that all subjects could use Padlet. In second grade they could use a padlet to present different ideas. Third, fourth and fifth grades could do research project and present the ideas to the classroom using padlet. The older grades could also use padlet as an introduction tool. They could make their wall talk about themselves. This would be a great beginning of the year assignment to incorporate technology into the classroom. I like the fact that padlet can be protected. I also like the fact that it is a green alternative to a poster board or tri-fold board. My opinion of this website is that it would be a great tool to use in the classroom. I like this website better than glogster because it is very user friendly and very easy to use. All of the tools are right there on the side to use. I believe that students will love to use this tool in daily use.
Review and Evaluate 10 Web 2.0 Tools that have not been used in class
Team Leader: Anna, Haley, Cayela, Bailey
ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a classroom tool that helps teachers improve behavior in their classrooms quickly and easily. It also captures and generates data on behavior that teachers can share with parents and administrators. Approximately 50 percent of the time in the classroom is used managing behavior rather than spent teaching, ClassDojo aims to reduce that number so teachers can do more teaching and less crowd control. With ClassDojo it is easy to engage parents in their child’s development because they have access to see the positive and negative points that child receives daily and the comments from the teacher. Teachers can make a list of actions that students will try in complete throughout the school year, such as helping others, staying in your seat, raising your hand, or staying on task. When the teacher sees that a student’s is doing one of these task he or she will give the student Dojo points. At the end of the day the students can see how many points that have received during the day. They can also see where they are improving and where they need to improve. Teachers can also leave comments for the students to view on the action of what they did well or what they need to do differently. Students can also make their own avatar once the teacher gives out the “secret code”. Students can see their classmate’s avatars as well. ClassDojo is appropriate for grades K through 6th grade. I think any grade beyond this wouldn’t respond to it very well. ClassDojo is something that I would defiantly use in my classroom. I think this tool is something that is safe because the teacher is the main person to be using the tool, unless a student is changing their avatar or seeing how many points they have then they won’t be on ClassDojo that often. When teachers first create their page they are given a “secret code”. The “secret code” is how parents or students can access the page and information. This makes me feel that ClassDojo is safe, because not just anyone can get on the page. I really like this because students can see how and where they need to improve and what they are doing right. I also like that the teacher can comment on each behavior, that way the student can know exactly what they did correctly or what they didn’t do so good on. I think this tool could really cut down on the time that the teacher is spending trying to discipline.
Cayela Miller
Edmodo
Edmodo is a social learning platform website for teachers, students, and parents. It is marketed as the Facebook for schools. Edmodo is used into classrooms through a variety of applications including Reading, Assignments, and Paper-studying. Current uses include posting assignments, creating polls for student responses, embedding video clips, create learning groups, posting quizzes, creating a calendar of events and assignments. Students can also turn in assignments or upload assignments for their teachers to view and grade on Edmodo. With Edmodo parents have the ability to view the website. They can either use their child’s username or make their own. With the parent accounts parents have the ability to see their child’s assignments and grades. Teachers can send alerts to parents about creating and maintaining parent records, send alerts about school events, their child's missing assignments and other important messages. Like other social networks, Edmodo can be used as a place to post and critique work, facilitate collaboration, and post creative writing. On Edmodo teachers can also post with attachments such as videos or pictures. It can also be used to teach children how to create podcast, posts, and basic web-site designing. Edmodo overall is safe for everyone involved. With Edmodo teachers have the ability to make sure that only the right people are in the virtual classroom, monitoring, and influence student conversations. Edmodo is as safe as the teacher makes it for the class. If teachers are not regularly present in their Edmodo virtual classroom or at least monitoring remotely through email, it’s like leaving the physical classroom unattended. To strengthen the security of the classroom it’s recommended that schools register with Edmodo to create a school subdomain and a school Edmodo administrator, so that teacher accounts can be validated and monitored. Edmodo is found most appropriate for grades 6th through 12th. You might be able to use Edmodo is younger grades, but they would defiantly have more difficulty and would probably need more assistance. I think that if I had an older grade level Edmodo is something that I could see myself using in the classroom. I really like that parents have the availability to check in on their child’s grades, progress, assignments and any announcements. I think this would be a great way to get information out to parents. There are two main concerns that I have with Edmodo, the safety and internet access. Although Edmodo claims that it’s as safe as the teacher makes it, I would still be concerned for the virtual safety of my students. The second concern that I have would be about the interent access for my students. If the children were working from Edmodo at school there would be no concerns about internet access but if the students had assignments to complete at home there is a possibility that the student may not have internet access home.
Cayela Miller
Scratch:
This tool is used to create animations, music, art, games, presentations, and many other aspects that go along with technology. This application is free of charge to whoever would like to join the page. The people that the tool is aimed towards are children ranging from ages 8 to 16, but it is said that many people across all age groups use the application. Scratch can be used for personal fun, present a project, make a movie, learn a new skill, or complete a task in a new way never thought of before. There is also a site that is connect to Scratch but is for educators that is called ScratchEd. This page allows for educators to share stories, ask question to a community of educators from around the world, exchange resources, and find other educators. With the ability to share with other educators this could allow for many new ideas to be sparked within the teaching world and give a new wave of teaching styles to come about. The tool asks for a username, the country in which you live, birth month and year, gender, and a contact email address. The website never asks for your exact birth date or your true name so you wouldn’t be giving out any personal identity information. It also allows for information to be reported if anything inappropriate is reported or flagged. With the ScratchEd and the original page of Scratch, this tool could be used in the classroom for assignments, creation of presentations to help teach a topic of the curriculum, and collaboration with other teachers for ideas on teaching methods and assignments. The set-up of ScratchEd allows for teachers to share and communicate with other educators. Scratch gives children independence to create their own art, games, music, animations, and anything else they would enjoy. A teacher could give this assignment to children to create their own video about a historic event, their own game to teach a part of the curriculum, or as an assignment with a group to create their own animation of a book that is being read in the class like a movie trailer but for that certain book. The video and animation making is a new way for children to show their skills and understanding of technology and also complete tasks given to them I the classroom. I like this tool for the simple fact that is gives students the freedom to create their own animations and videos as a way of completing tasks given to them in the classroom as well as somewhere for children to display their talents and interests during their free time. I also like the feature or ScratchEd page that allows teachers to communicate, share, and find new methods of teaching that help children learn the curriculum that is set before them. The downside would be that it is hard to monitor exactly what children are doing while they are on the page, but as long as guidelines are set there shouldn’t be much of a problem. Overall it is a new and exciting tool that will help children become more engaged in the learning process.
Anna Wilkerson
Intro to Scratch 2.0 from ScratchEd on Vimeo.
TimeToast:
This is a website that allows students, teachers, parents, or anyone for that matter to generate their own timeline. It can include historical dates and events, personal dates and events, a group’s events, or anything the creator would like to create a timeline for. The website allows for a sign up option so someone can create an account and create their own timelines or the website can be used to browse timelines others have made to help learn about historical events or anything of their liking. This tool could be used in the classroom as a way for students to see and understand certain historical events and dates that are a part of the curriculum being taught. It could also be used as a way to generate their own timeline. This option could be given as an assignment to students to create a timeline about themselves, a project they are working on, a vacation they went on during a break in school, a certain period in time they have been designated to research and study, or as a memoir of their year in your class and be presented at the end of the school year. This tool seems very safe to use for anyone. In the sign up feature there are three different plans that can be chosen from free, basic which cost $5.99 a month, and pro which cost $8.99 a month. The plans that cost so much a month offer more and the information that is asked before creating an account include personal information such as billing information. The free plan simply asks for an email address, username, and password to create an account. It is a simple tool to use and children of older age can create their own. Younger children will have a harder time navigating the website themselves so it would be better for a teacher to create a timeline and the children look at the print outs. I would suggest children under the 3rd grade level would need to have print outs of timelines or a good amount of assistance when using the tool and children 3rd grade and older should be able to navigate the page with little to no assistance. I like this tool and would more than likely use this tool in my classroom as a way to help children better understand aspects of the history or social studies curriculum. It could be used to generate assignments or used to generate timelines to be hand-outs in the classroom when teaching a certain historical event or time period. I believe it will help children to become more engaged in learning dates and events if they are given a way to record the dates on their own but in a fun way for them to help remember the material. It can be used in many settings and for many different purposes. I would recommend this tool and will probably use it in the near future.
Anna Wilkerson
Storybird:
Storybird is a visual storytelling community that is offered online. This website allows anyone to create a story online in just a couple of minutes. The site curates artwork and illustrations from animators and artists around the world. The artwork is then provided for the user to create their own new story, while using artwork from previous books or other mediums. Storybird offers many different graphics and illustrations to choose from when creating the book, so your options are not limited. Membership to the website is free; the students would just need to create an account. When the books are saved and posted on the website it allows other people to repost your book as well as comment on it. This allows for online interaction, which could be useful in the classroom students could give feedback on the work of their peers so that peer evaluation could occur. This website would be most appropriate for 3-6 grades within the k-6 grades. The website is easy to use, but children below the 3rd grade would probably need a large amount of assistance to complete a story. I do believe that this tool is safe because all of the images are provided by the website and most are taken from children’s books. The website also offers a teacher option that allows a teacher to create her own class, which could allow her to integrate her students together. It also allows the teacher to grade the students work online and provide them with feedback. The story can be embedded as well to another site or blog. In my opinion I think that this tool is interesting and that it could definitely be used in an educational setting, especially an English class. This website could be used as a writing tool that would engage them more than the typical pencil and paper. Instead of having a student write a paper, they could write their own book. This would not only help with their writing skills, but it could also allow them to learn more about the different genres of books since they would have to pick one themselves. Overall I think that this tool could be greatly utilized in a literature class because it would allow students to learn old information in a new and creative way. Please look below to see how to create a storybird and to see what they look like.
--Haley Powell
Zooburst:
Zooburst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone create his or her own 3D Pop up books. The books “live” online in the account that you create. Although an account has to be created, it is free to sign up. Students and teachers can become authors that use characters and props in a 3D world that can also be customized by uploading artwork or items from the built-in database of more than 10,000 pictures and materials. Zooburst books can also be shared by using a hyperlink or be embedded into a blog. Zooburst is also available in the form on an app so that it can be used on a tablet or an iPad. This tool is appropriate for all children within the k-5 grades. I also think that this tool is safe for students to use because they control the content of their book and the options that are provided by the website are appropriate. The website also offers a “classroom management” option that allows teahcers to set up a protected, safe space for their students. Zooburst can be used in the classroom as a tool to tell a story, deliver a presentation, write a report, or to encourage creativity and exploring technology. In my opinion I think that the tool could be useful in the classrrom and it could be an interesting way to get children to create their own books using a medium besides pen and paper. The book is also interactive because the students can click on the different pictures that pop up in order read or create new information. Their voice can also be added to read the information out loud while progressing through the book. I would definitely use this in my classroom as long as they were familiar with the computer. Please see the video below for instructions on how to sign up for the website and how to create a book.
--Haley Powell
Goanimate:
Goanimate is a Web 2.0 tool that is appropriate for all k-12 grades. The purpose of the website is to allow students and adults the opportunity to make videos using simplistic methods. All of the videos are made out of animations, which eliminates the issue and fear of trying to figure out how to record something and transfer it to the computer. Animation is also more kid-friendly because children can relate it to the cartoons that they see and watch on television. One of the sites statements/mottos is “point, click, drag, drop, voila!”, which is used to represent the ability that is required to use this site. This tool can be used in the classroom to exercise higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and the use of their imagination. The tool does offer a free version, but the children would have to create an account. I think that the website is safe, especially since the user is in control of the material that is placed on the video. This tool could be a creative way for students to create a presentation for an assignment in class as opposed to a PowerPoint. I also think that this tool could be utilized in a technology class to expose students to videos other than the ones that are posted on YouTube. This tool does not have to be used for something serious, it can be used for fun as well. Goanimate can be used to create something funny or simply send some sort of message. The tool also offers the opportunity to create a visual out of pieces of information. The use of animated characters offers the opportunity to discuss a touchy subject without people putting their defenses up. The website offers many different options when creating the video, such as the different characters, their movement, the background, props, music, and the ability to lip synch a character with your voice. The possibilities for this tool are great and I think that it could be a fun and useful tool for students. Below you will find a tutorial on what the tool does and how to use it.
--Haley Powell
The Answer Pad-Bailey Kanupp
The Answer Pad is an interactive tool for both students and teachers to use. The teacher signs up at answerpad.com and then adds the students. The students then download the app on their iPad or they can use a computer desktop. The teacher can see from her device whether the students are logged in and ready to answer questions. The teacher can send out a question to each device that is connected to her account. The teacher can change the layout of the screen to a graph or just plain paper depending on the question. Written responses are not the only way the students can response, they can type out the response if needed. There is also an option for selected response questions. There is an option to upgrade and pay a small fee to get upgraded features. The upgraded features include graphic organizers that the teacher can customize and much more. There is also an option if the teacher has something specific in mind that she cannot find she can upload it from her own files. I believe that this tool would be great for student’s grades 2 through 6. As long as the students would not take advantage of the technology at their finger tips the possibilities are endless. This tool could be used in a number of different ways as you can see in the video the teacher Ms. Smith used it as a math tool. But The Answer Pad is not limited to only math. You could upload a graphic organizer and have the students fill it out in partners or on their own. This could be a great tool for a spelling test. Call out the word and have them submit them one at a time. This would cut down on how much the teacher would have to take home and grade. This is a great tool to be eco friendly. This cuts down on how much the teacher has to grade and how much paper is wasted in a day’s time. I believe this is a very safe website. There are no ads for anything on the website so no way for a student to get off task. I guess it would all come down to if you trust your students. I believe this could be a great formative and summative assessment tool. The teacher could see how the students understand the material on a minute to minute basis. Then the teacher could also use this tool to make a test and have the students submit them virtually. The only down fall of this tool is the fact that every student has to be signed up to use the tool. If they are not signed up there is no way of knowing who sent in the answers. The teacher has to sign each student in. But I believe that one afternoon of signing students up for The Answer Pad verses the mounds of paper work that you would be saving is worth it. I plan to use this tool when I get my own classroom.
Live Binder-Bailey Kanupp
Live Binders are just virtual 3-ring binders that student, teachers, or parents can use. You can just add the icon to your web browser and when you want to add a website you just click the icon and it is added to the binder of your chose. Live Binders can be used many different age groups including school aged students. At the school that I currently work at we use Live Binders daily. There is a live binder for students to use to play math games, reading games, and typing games. There is a live binder for parents that have safe websites, monthly and weekly news letters by grade levels. There is a live binder for teachers that have websites that are useful and documents that are important for daily use. I believe that live binders are very useful and can help out anyone find websites. The safety of the live binder depends on the maker of the binder. A school live binder should be safe for students. Students could use live binders to find websites that teachers want them to use, or can make their own for a project. I believe that K-6 students could use a live binder but making one may be a little harder. Grades 4-6 could make a live binder for a project or as a reference for a research project. Live binders have no limits you can add as many websites as you would like.
Padlet-Bailey Kanupp
Padlet is a web 2.0 tool for students to build a wall of their own. This is tool kind of like glogster but easier for younger students. A wall can be like a poster board of endless topics online. There is a privacy policy on the website that the video explains. You can make your wall private or public or public to only certain people. This is an important feature for students to be able to post things on their walls and know that they will not be taken advantage of. I believe that a lot of grades could use this in many different subjects. I believe that kindergarten and first grade may not be able to use it as well as second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. I think that all subjects could use Padlet. In second grade they could use a padlet to present different ideas. Third, fourth and fifth grades could do research project and present the ideas to the classroom using padlet. The older grades could also use padlet as an introduction tool. They could make their wall talk about themselves. This would be a great beginning of the year assignment to incorporate technology into the classroom. I like the fact that padlet can be protected. I also like the fact that it is a green alternative to a poster board or tri-fold board. My opinion of this website is that it would be a great tool to use in the classroom. I like this website better than glogster because it is very user friendly and very easy to use. All of the tools are right there on the side to use. I believe that students will love to use this tool in daily use.